Back home again

How nice it is to be back home after caring for Eve for 9 days. There was a VERY special surprise waiting for me, it arrived in the mail.....

How amazing is that?? A Michelle Ridgway original of the Supervisor!! I have to say a few tears were shed when I opened it....Thank you so much Michelle it is beautiful, we both love it and it will be framed and go up next to Puku.  

 I am still gobsmacked and can't believe what you have done, you really are a very special person Michelle. Thank you, thank you , thank you!!!!

Here is the subject, relaxing after his walk this morning. 

So for a bit of a catch up

The Aussie Hero quilt has gone in the mail

And last week Margaret and I presented the Dignity Quilt to Rice Village (back), they were very excited to see the quilt and really pleased with it.

(front) I am pleased to say we have started something here, the quilt was shown at an Australia wide meeting for the Mercy Health organisation and they are going to try and contact quilting groups near the Mercy Health homes and see if that  group will make a Dignity Quilt for them. How good is that, there might even be funds to help them be made. 

While at Eve's place I walked her dog

Basil the Bad, he is a Jug, Jack Russell X Pug. (Looks angelic there doesn't he!!)

We went several days to the Arboretum just down the road, it is a very nice place to have a walk. 

Sunrise here was beautiful

Some spring flowers are out very early

The Supervisor likes to lick the soil, shame there are pea seeds sprouting there!!

I have laid out two KOGO rugs in the making.this one isn't too bad

this one had squares of differing sizes, so will be interesting to see how it goes together.

and lastly, if I have not put you to sleep, hubby did another pastel from a photo I took at Hobbiton in NZ. It is framed now so hard to get a reasonable photo. Now we need to find wall space.

Ok I am off to sew knitted squares together.

Happy sewing.

Guild day

Yes, it is that time again and we had Guild today,not a huge crowd, no speaker and just a little show and tell, but it was a good day.

Marg was discussing her quilt and thinking about how it would be quilted..a discussion followed!

Lesley showed her quilt, which had been beautifully quilted...

This quilt started it's like red and green and when washed for the first time the colour ran, so the owner picked up a colour remover from the supermarket, didn't realise she had the wrong one and this is the colour the quilt ended up. It looks very pretty but was not what was originally intended.

The Dignity quilt is done, and the label signed and the fabric mosaic of the boys is also finished. happy dance here!!

I think I have shown this quilt before but now it is finished....it is just beautiful. 

It is a Hoffman fabric Fiona.....Tracee is attempting to track it down so we will let you know if it is found. 

Here is a small selection of the pieces done for the Artisans of Geelong display Fabric of the Community.

This is Lisa's snowball and nine patch quilt, she is doing the binding...love the bright colours.

Tracee and Lisa stitching away.

A quilt made by Pat with some fabric brought back from Japan the photo does not do it justice!! It is double sided, the back is just as attractive as the front.

We are off out for dinner so I had better get myself organised.

Happy sewing.

Yesterday and today

have both been lovely days...kind of Indian summer. Yesterday I didn't want to be inside and hubby had a war gaming buddy coming over so I took myself off to the beach for a walk. I drove over to Queenscliff and followed the beach and then the path to Point Lonsdale

Heading down the steps at Queenscliff

there is a tiny blob  out there which was a man swimming, just liked the contrast between the man and the huge ship coming in! 

Love rock!!

New shelters at Point Lonsdale I hadn't seen before, built in a style reminiscent of the bunkers here in WW2

kind of murky over th other side, the wind is whipping the tops of the breakers and creating mist.

Love the description of the lady going into the ladies side of the bathing box, emerging in her voluminous bathing costume and enjoying the waves in a bobbing motion!! Would have loved to have seen that.

As the tide was coming in on my return I took the sandy path above the beach, there was a lot of up and down here!! On the way home I stopped at Van Loons nursery to get a well deserved chai- you need some reward after walking 11km I believe!!! They have the most magnificent GF  cakes there too, might have had a sample!! Lol!!

Things are a bit awry in the garden, this tree has it's autumn colour and is dropping leaves but also has blossom that I would have thought would have come in the spring??

I emptied the fig and ginger jam back into the pot today and boiled it some more and added jam setter...I was told by Barbara at Portarlington sewing group that if the fruit was floating it was not cooked properly...now it no longer floats and the jam is set!! Yay!!!

The binding is finished on the Dignity Quilt I am now putting on this big label, I liked the words and thought there would be enough room for the people who made a block or three to sign their names.

Well I had better go and start that tidying I have been avoiding.

Happy sewing.

Oops

here is another photo heavy catching up kind of post!!

I was sitting sewing on Thursday afternoon and glanced out the window...such a peaceful view!!

Yesterday I went up to Bullengarook  to the house of Mrs Perry, she offered to help me with the Dignity Quilt for the Guild.

so after watching a YouTube video we loaded the quilt and quilted two rows, then the tension went and we spent hours trying to nut out what the problem was...in between Tracee was feeding me and her family!! We finally changed the quilting cotton and then adjusted the tension and off we went again,  I am very proficient in unpicking quilting now!! 

Harmony found a wonderful place to rest!!

Finally at 10pm we did the final row!!! Yay!!! Happy dance!!

The fur babies had gone to bed, so it was time for me to head for home. Luckily I didn't have any encounters with any kangaroos!!

This morning the Supervisor and I went for a walk...he did his bit for the community and watered every thing vertical!! When we got back I did some pruning until the green bin was full, 

then I put the binding on the boys mosaic, just the hand sewing to go!! I did forget to put on a hanging sleeve, will have to do that later.

I trimmed the dignity quilt, I am very happy with the quilting...thank you so much Tracee for persevering and putting up with me all day!! 

We have a new family member....meet Herman the German hermit Crab!! Hubby found him on the ferry back from Sorrento last  Thursday!!

This afternoon I also managed to get the binding sewn onto the Dignity quilt...hand sewing on the agenda for me this week!! You might be able to see the bag of clips on the quilt?? Tracee gave them to me yesterday along with

this beautiful tin, which I am going to keep and use for sewing

and this chocolate which was in the tin...which I am sure the rest of the family will consume over time!!

Hope you are all having a Happy Easter and lovely weekend.

Happy sewing.

Day of Frustration

I went over to a friends place to have a go at quilting the dignity quilt, we got it loaded and the machine threaded up and off I went, and the thread broke!! So we tried again and the thread broke again. This continued for nearly 3 hours until we gave up

the quilt is staying until tomorrow when we try and sort out what the problem is..might have to wrestle it at home!! We shall see.

Last night I finished the edging on a KOGO blanket,I stitched the squares together thru the week, it is ready to be dropped off tomorrow.

here is the next lot of squares to be sewn together..they are an interesting collection.

Happy sewing.